A new company believed to be associated with North Korea’s Red Star Technology Exchange Company, the developer of the country’s proprietary operating system, has opened a representative office in Vladivostok, NK News reported.
The company, named Bulgunbyol Technology Trading Company — with “Bulgunbyol” meaning “Red Star” in Korean — officially opened on September 24 with the support of the North Korean Chamber of Commerce. According to Russia’s SPARK corporate registry, the local entity is listed as “Technical Foreign Trade Company Pulynpel.”
Vladivostok Registration and Management
The registration documents indicate that the office is located at 42 Bosfora Street, near the Eastern Bosphorus Strait in Vladivostok. The company’s director is listed as Kim Chol Yong, and it employs five foreign workers. Its stated business activity is “market research and public opinion studies.”
This marks the first North Korean firm registered in Russia in 2025. Previous years also saw similar entities appear, despite UN sanctions that prohibit DPRK citizens from earning income abroad.
Red Star’s Origins and Role
NK News notes that Red Star Technology Exchange Company develops the Red Star operating system (OS), with its last known version, Red Star 4.0, released between 2018 and 2019. Built on Linux, the OS was first introduced in the early 2000s, initially mimicking the design of Microsoft Windows before being redesigned in 2013 to resemble Apple’s macOS.
Possible Purpose: Export of IT Workers
Cybersecurity researcher Junaid Ali told NK News that the Vladivostok office is unlikely intended for the distribution of Red Star OS, which is primarily used within North Korea, but rather for the “export of IT professionals.”
Pattern of North Korean Expansion in Russia
This is not the first North Korean business presence in the Russian Far East. In August 2024, another DPRK company, Kumryun Trading Corporation, also established a branch in Vladivostok. The United Nations has blacklisted Kumryun, describing it as linked to North Korea’s Mining Development and Trading Corporation—the country’s primary arms trader and exporter of equipment related to both ballistic missiles and conventional weapons.
“Despite international restrictions, North Korean commercial activity in Russia’s Far East continues to expand quietly, often under the guise of technology or trade companies,” NK News observed.
